Liee-preseiiving seat



UNTTED STATES PATENT OFTVTQE.

GEO. P. TEWKSBURY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LIFE-PRESERVING SEAT.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,349, dated October 19, 1852.

To ail 'whom "Lt may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. TEWKs- BRY, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new or ImprovedLife-Preserving Seat for Navigable Vessels; and I do hereby declare thatthe same is fully described and represented in the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, andreferences, t ereof. 7

Of the said drawings Figure 1 denotes a side elevation, Fig. 2 avertical and central section, and Fig. 3 a horizontal section of my saidlife preserving seat.

In the said drawings A represents the f seat of t-he chair which iscomposed of a circular or other proper shaped piece of wood or otherproper material.

B is another or like piece of wood or other material connected with thepiece A by three or any other suitable number of bars C, C, of iron orother proper substance, iron rods being generally preferred by me.

D is an air tight hollow vessel formed of two conic frusta a, b,arranged as seen in the drawings. This vessel is to be made of thinsheet metal and to have its two ends respectively sunk into the twoheads A, B. I give to the vessel D the above form not only for thepurposes of strength but to afford room between it and the rods C, C,for one or more persons to grasp the rods or for the fixing of timbers,spars, or other matters to the bars by ropes.

The head B not only serves to protect the lower end of the air vessel Dfrom injury but it serves by its weight to prevent the chair or seatfrom being overturned during the motions of a vessel. As common seatsare made, their centers of gravity are elevated so high above the lowerends of their legs as to cause the chairs to be readily overset. Thus itwill be seen that my improved seat has great and very importantadvantages over the life preserving seat made like an ordinary stoolwith a seat and legs and an air vessel applied to the under side of theseat.

My improved life preserving seat admits of the use of an air vessel ofnearly double the capacity of that which can with advantage be appliedto the common legged stool, for in order to protect the bottom of theair vessel of the latter from injury, it becomes necessary to make suchvessel quite short or only about one half the length of one of the legs.The protection to the air vessel afforded by the head B enables me toconstruct it much larger or of greater capacity than it can otherwise bemade and used in practice.

The improved seat presents advantages of laying in the water with therods O, C, in a horizontal position, whereby persons can better sustainthemselves by it in the wat-er than by the stool with legs.

I claim- The said improved life preserving seat as made of a combinationof the seat A, the head or block B, the air tight vessel D and theconnecting rods or grasping bars O applied together and usedsubstantially in manner and for the purpose as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my signature, this twenty ninthday of September A. D. 1852.

G. P. TEVKSBURY.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, GEORGE W. OUTLER,

